Kevin Stadler leads The Barclays after 64

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Kevin Stadler hasn’t had a top-10 finish since New Orleans in late April.

Associated Press
August 23, 2013

Kevin Stadler teed off just after breakfast and finished right before dinner. It took him nearly 11 hours to complete a 7-under-par 64 at Liberty National, his lowest score on the PGA Tour since the first week of February. And he still isn’t guaranteed to be the first-round leader at The Barclays.

The FedEx Cup playoffs got off to a soggy start Thursday with two rain delays that lasted six hours.

It was a start-again, stop-again day on the banks of the Hudson River, but that didn’t stop Stadler. He ran off three birdies early, then returned from the second delay and threw in four more birdies on a soft golf course.

Asked if it was difficult to stay mentally prepared, Stadler replied,

‘‘I’m never really mentally prepared. Same as usual. It was all good.’’

Tiger Woods, the No. 1 player in the world and in this playoff series, came out of the first delay by missing a short birdie putt on the par-5 13th and then rolling in three straight birdies to get into the mix. He cooled slightly after the slightly longer second delay, and failed to make birdie on any of the par 5s in his round of 67.

Only the top half of the draw finished the round. The later starters — Ben Crane played only two holes — were to resume the round Friday morning and then go straight to the second round. That left the top half facing extra holes on Saturday to get the tournament caught up.

‘‘We’re done,’’ Woods said. ‘‘It was a long day, and tomorrow will be a short one. And then Saturday will be pretty much a marathon.’’

British Open champion Phil Mickelson and Masters champion Adam Scott were among those who didn’t finish. PGA champion Jason Dufner had a 71, while US Open champion Justin Rose recovered from a double bogey on the par-5 13th for a 68.

Camilo Villegas, who started the season with conditional status and is No. 110 in the FedEx Cup standings, ran off four straight birdies around the turn and was the only player to reach 8 under — for now — until back-to-back bogeys late in his round. He had a 65, along with Henrik Stenson and Ryan Palmer.

Jason Day and Matt Kuchar shot 66.

Rory McIlroy had three double bogeys and still managed a 71. McIlroy blasted out of a bunker and over the 15th green. His approach found the water on No. 5. And his tee shot on the ninth took a wicked kick off the cart path, over the bushes and a fence and out-of-bounds.

‘‘The rest of it was actually pretty good,’’ he said.

Stadler needed a good start. He hasn’t had a top-10 since New Orleans in late April, and he started these playoffs at No. 87. Only the top 100 advance to the Deutsche Bank Championship next week at TPC Boston, and the top 70 from there go on to the third event in Chicago.

LPGA — Lydia Ko, the winner of last year’s Canadian Women’s Open at a Tour-record age of 15 years, 4 months, shot a 5-under 65 in perfect conditions at Royal Mayfair in Edmonton, Alberta, for a share of the first-round lead with Angela Stanford and Christel Boeljon.

Ko, the South Korean-born New Zealander, had six birdies and a bogey. She birdied the opening hole, though she figured that might be a bad omen.

‘‘When I start off with a birdie I haven’t really played that well, so yeah, I was kind of nervous that I did make a birdie on the first,’’ Ko said.

Stanford rebounded after going 0-4 last week in the US’s Solheim Cup loss in Colorado. The Texan birdied five of the first 12 holes in her bogey-free round.

Boeljon had a hole-in-one with a 9-iron on the 126-yard 16th hole. The Dutchwoman also had a bogey-free round, playing Nos. 15-17 in 4 under.

US Solheim Cup teammates Paula Creamer and Cristie Kerr shot 66. Top-ranked Inbee Park, a six-time winner this year, was a stroke back at 67 along with Na Yeon Choi, Karine Icher, and Jennifer Kirby.

European — At Gleneagles, Scotland, Bernd Wiesberger and Ricardo Gonzalez took full advantage of ideal scoring conditions to shoot 7-under 65s and share a one-shot lead after the first round of the Johnnie Walker Championship.